Image forming system

Abstract

To improve workability during maintenance of an image forming apparatus.SOLUTION: A large capacity feeding device 600 is movable in a horizontal direction relative to an image forming apparatus 201, and moves to a connected position where it is connected to the image forming apparatus 201, and to a separated position where it is separated from the image forming apparatus 201, overlaps at least part of a door 260 when seen from an upper direction when the door 260 is located at a first open position and does not overlap a manual paper feeding device 500. The manual paper feeding device 500 has a projecting part 500a that projects toward the door 260, from the image forming apparatus 201 in the horizontal direction of the door 260, beyond an outer surface in a first direction D1 facing the large capacity feeding device 600 located at the connected position when the door 260 is located at a first closed position and the manual paper feeding device 500 is located at a second closed position. The large capacity feeding device 600 overlaps at least part of the projecting part 500a when seen from the first direction D1 when the large capacity feeding device is located at the separated position and the door 260 is located at the first open position.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an image forming system for forming an image on a sheet. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, there has been a demand for image forming apparatuses using electrophotography, such as copying machines, printers, and facsimiles, to produce a large number of printer outputs and output outputs with high image quality and high resolution. In order to produce a large number of printer outputs, large-capacity feeders that can supply a large number of sheets and are externally connected to the side of image forming apparatuses have become widespread (see Patent Document 1).

[0003] On the other hand, there is a limit to the use of plain paper and recycled paper used in offices to create high-quality and high-definition printer output. Therefore, in order to obtain higher-quality and high-definition printer output, the use of special sheets such as coated paper and thick paper has become desirable. In order to supply such special sheets, a manual feeder attached to the side wall of an image forming apparatus is used. Here, since coated paper is prone to paper jams due to adhesion between sheets of paper, a manual feeder has been proposed that has a configuration in which air is blown onto the edge of the sheet width direction to reduce the adhesion between stacked sheets in order to realize smooth supply (see Patent Document 2). This manual feeder can supply multiple sheets of coated paper continuously. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] JP 2008-137742 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2006-256819 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, when the manual feed device described in Patent Document 2 and the large-capacity feed device described in Patent Document 1 are used together, the following problem may occur. That is, when a fan for blowing air is built into the manual feed tray, the manual feed tray may be made thicker to avoid an increase in size. In this case, when the manual feed tray is closed to the main body of the image forming apparatus, the manual feed tray protrudes from the side of the main body.

[0006] Even with this configuration, image formation processing is not affected. However, when the side door on which the manual feed tray is installed is opened wide to perform maintenance inside the image forming apparatus, the protruding part of the manual feed tray may hit the large-capacity feeding device, making it difficult to secure sufficient working space during the work. In order to obtain sufficient working space, it is possible to remove the manual feed tray from the main body of the apparatus, but this reduces the ease of operation during maintenance.

[0007] SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT DISCLOSURE An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming system capable of improving the workability during maintenance of an image forming apparatus. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] One aspect of the present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having an image forming unit that forms an image on a sheet, a housing that houses the image forming unit, an opening / closing door that is rotatable about a horizontal rotation axis relative to the housing and is capable of opening and closing the housing by rotating between a first closed position and a first open position, and a support unit that is rotatable about a horizontal rotation axis relative to the opening / closing door and is capable of opening and closing the opening / closing door by rotating between a second closed position and a second open position, and that supports a sheet to be transported to the image forming unit when the image forming apparatus is located at the second open position; and a connection position that is horizontally movable relative to the image forming apparatus and is connected to the image forming apparatus, and a connection position that is detached from the image forming apparatus, and that supports an upper portion when the opening / closing door is located at the first open position. and a feeding device which moves to a detached position in which the opening / closing door overlaps with at least a portion of the opening / closing door when viewed from a direction and does not overlap the support unit, and which feeds a sheet to the image forming apparatus when located at the connected position, wherein the support unit has a protrusion that protrudes toward the opening / closing door beyond an outer surface of the opening / closing door in a first direction facing from the image forming apparatus to the feeding device located at the connected position when the opening / closing door is located at the first closed position and the support unit is located at the second closed position, and the feeding device overlaps with at least a portion of the protrusion when viewed from the first direction when the opening / closing door is located at the detached position and the opening / closing door is located at the first open position. Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to the present invention, it is possible to improve the workability during maintenance of an image forming apparatus. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an image forming system according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a state in which the manual feeding device according to the embodiment is located at an open position. [Diagram 3] 1 is a front view of an image forming system showing a state in which a large-capacity feeding device according to an embodiment is located at a connected position; [Figure 4] 1 is a front view of an image forming system showing a state in which a large-capacity feeding device according to an embodiment is located at a detached position. [Diagram 5] 1 is a perspective view of a large-capacity feeding device according to an embodiment, showing a state in which the large-capacity feeding device is located at a connected position. [Figure 6] 1 is a perspective view of a large-capacity feeding device according to an embodiment, showing a state in which the large-capacity feeding device is located at a detached position. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] The present embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, the schematic configuration of an image forming system 1 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the schematic configuration of the image forming system 1 according to this embodiment. The image forming system 1 has an image forming apparatus 201 and a large-capacity feeding device 600. The image forming apparatus 201 is a tandem type intermediate transfer type laser beam printer that utilizes an electrophotographic process. The image forming apparatus 201 can form and output a full-color or monochrome image corresponding to print image data output from a host device (not shown) connected to the control unit 100 on a sheet S, which is a recording medium.

[0012] The control unit 100 is a control means for controlling the overall operation of the image forming apparatus 201, and transmits and receives information to and from the host device and the operation unit 730. The control unit 100 also performs signal processing and sequence control for various process devices. Here, the host device is a personal computer, an image scanner, a facsimile, etc. The control unit 100 has a CPU, a RAM, and a ROM, and controls each part in the image forming apparatus 201. The CPU outputs an output signal to each electric component to operate the electric component at a desired timing and with a required amount of control based on the detection signal input from each sensor and the information stored in the ROM. Therefore, it is the CPU that actually controls the electric components. The ROM and RAM store information data required for controlling each part, and the CPU reads the information data stored in the ROM and writes it to the RAM.

[0013] The image forming apparatus 201 has an apparatus body 201A, an image forming section 201B that forms an image on a sheet S, and a cassette feeding section 230. An image reading device 202 that is installed substantially horizontally is provided above the apparatus body 201A. An ejection space V for ejecting sheets is formed between the image reading device 202 and the apparatus body 201A. In this embodiment, the apparatus body 201A, more specifically, a frame (not shown) that constitutes the apparatus body 201A, is an example of a housing.

[0014] The cassette feeding section 230 feeds the sheets S from a feeding cassette 5 which is a sheet storage means for storing the sheets S. The cassette feeding section 230 has a pickup roller 2 and a separation roller pair consisting of a feed roller 3 and a retard roller 4 for separating the sheets S sent out from the pickup roller 2. The sheets stored in the cassette feeding section 230 are separated one by one by the separation roller pair and fed to the registration roller pair 240 by the conveying roller pair 6.

[0015] In this embodiment, a manual feed device 500 is provided on a side of the apparatus main body 201A. The manual feed device 500 has a manual feed tray 10, a pickup roller 502, and a separation roller pair 507 (see FIG. 2) for separating the sheets S sent out from the pickup roller 502. The separation roller pair 507 is made up of a feed roller 503 and a retard roller 504. The sheets S loaded on the manual feed tray 10 are separated one by one by the separation roller pair 507, and are sent to the registration roller pair 240 by the conveyance roller pair 506.

[0016] The image forming section 201B forms an image on a sheet fed by the cassette feeding section 230 or the manual feeding device 500. The image forming section 201B is of a four-drum full-color type, and has a laser scanner 210 and four process cartridges 211 that form toner images of four colors, yellow (Y), magenta (M), cyan (C), and black (K). Here, each process cartridge 211 is equipped with a photosensitive drum 212, a charger 213 as a charging means, and a developer 214 as a developing means. In addition, the image forming section 201B is equipped with a secondary transfer section 218 and a fixing section 201E disposed above the process cartridges 211. A toner cartridge 215 supplies toner to the developer 214.

[0017] The secondary transfer unit 218 includes a transfer belt 216 wound around a drive roller 216a and a tension roller 216b. A primary transfer roller 219 is provided on the inside of the transfer belt 216, which contacts the transfer belt 216 at a position facing the photosensitive drum 212. The transfer belt 216 is rotated in the direction of an arrow by a drive roller 216a driven by a drive unit (not shown). A secondary transfer roller 217 that transfers a color image formed on the transfer belt 216 to a sheet S is provided at a position facing the drive roller 216a of the secondary transfer unit 218.

[0018] A fixing unit 201E is disposed above the secondary transfer roller 217, and a first discharge roller pair 225a, a second discharge roller pair 225b, and a double-sided reversing unit 201F are disposed above the fixing unit 201E. The double-sided reversing unit 201F is provided with a reversing roller pair 222 that can rotate forward and backward, and a re-conveying path R that re-conveys the sheet S having an image formed on one side to the image forming unit 201B. An operation unit 730 that accepts operations from a user is provided on the upper part of the image forming apparatus 201. A touch panel type having both a display function and an input function is adopted as the operation unit 730.

[0019] The large-capacity feeding device 600 has a middle plate 601 that can be raised and lowered, a pickup roller 602, and a separation roller pair for separating the sheets S sent out from the pickup roller 602. The separation roller pair is composed of a feed roller 603 and a retard roller 604. The sheets S stacked on the middle plate 601 are separated one by one by the separation roller pair, and are sent to the registration roller pair 240 by the conveying roller pair 606.

[0020] Next, the image forming operation of the image forming apparatus 201 will be described. First, when the image forming apparatus 201 receives image data of an original to be printed, the image information is subjected to image processing, converted into an electric signal, and transmitted to a laser scanner 210 of the image forming section 201B. In the image forming section 201B, the surface of the photosensitive drum 212, the surface of which is uniformly charged to a predetermined polarity and potential by a charger 213, is sequentially exposed to a laser. As a result, electrostatic latent images of yellow, magenta, cyan, and black are sequentially formed on the photosensitive drum of each process cartridge 211, respectively.

[0021] Thereafter, the electrostatic latent images are developed and visualized with toner of each color, and the toner images of each color on each photosensitive drum are transferred in order onto the transfer belt 216 in a superimposed manner by a primary transfer bias applied to a primary transfer roller 219. As a result, a toner image is formed on the transfer belt 216.

[0022] In parallel with this toner image forming operation, the sheets S are transported one by one by the cassette feeding unit 230 or the manual feeding device 500 to the registration roller pair 240, and skew is corrected by the registration roller pair 240. After the skew is corrected, the sheets S are transported by the registration roller pair 240 to the secondary transfer unit 218, and the toner images are transferred all at once onto the sheets S by a secondary transfer bias applied to the secondary transfer roller 217 in the secondary transfer unit 218.

[0023] Next, the sheet S onto which the toner image has been transferred is transported to a fixing section 201E, where the toners of the various colors melt and mix under heat and pressure in a roller nip section formed by a pressure roller 220a and a heating roller 220b, and are fixed as a color image on the sheet S. The sheet S onto which the image has been fixed is discharged into a discharge space V by a first discharge roller pair 225a or a second discharge roller pair 225b provided downstream of the fixing section 201E, and is stacked on a discharge tray 223 protruding from the bottom surface of the discharge space V. When images are formed on both sides of the sheet S, after the images are fixed, the sheet S is transported to a re-conveyance path R by a reversing roller pair 222, and is transported again to the image forming section 201B.

[0024] [Manual feed device] Next, the manual feed device 500 will be described with reference to Fig. 2. As shown in Fig. 2, the manual feed device 500 has a manual tray 10, a pickup roller 502, and a pair of a first side regulating portion 70 and a second side regulating portion 80. The manual tray 10 is provided on a side surface of the device body 201A so as to be openable and closable by rotation, and when the manual tray 10 is opened from a state where it is stored on the side surface of the device body 201A, it becomes a state where sheets can be stacked. The case where the manual tray 10 is in the open state will be described below.

[0025] The pickup roller 502 feeds the sheet S placed on the manual feed tray 10. The pair of first and second side regulating units 70 and 80 are disposed on both sides of the sheet S in a width direction W intersecting with the feeding direction FD of the sheet S placed on the manual feed tray 10, and regulate the position of the sheet S in the width direction W. The first side regulating unit 70 is an example of a regulating unit, and is provided on the manual feed tray 10 so as to be movable in the width direction W, and regulates the position of the sheet S supported on the manual feed tray 10 in the width direction W. The second side regulating unit 80 is provided so as to be movable in the width direction W in conjunction with the first side regulating unit 70, and abuts against the other end of the sheet S placed on the manual feed tray 10 in the width direction W. In this embodiment, the width direction W is a direction perpendicular to the feeding direction FD of the sheet S.

[0026] The first side regulating portion 70 has a rack 71. Similarly, the second side regulating portion 80 has a rack 81. Each rack 71, 81 is meshed with a pinion gear 90 to be interlocked. As a result, at least one of the first side regulating portion 70 and the second side regulating portion 80 is movable in the width direction W, and in this embodiment, both the first side regulating portion 70 and the second side regulating portion 80 are movable in synchronization with the width direction W of the sheet S. Note that one of the first side regulating portion 70 and the second side regulating portion 80 may be fixed so as not to move. Also, only the first side regulating portion 70 may be provided movably, and the second side regulating portion 80 may not be provided.

[0027] The first side regulating section 70 is provided with a first air handling section 74 having a fan motor 72 and a blowing nozzle 73. When the fan motor 72 is driven, air f1 is blown out from the blowing nozzle 73 and is blown onto the side of the sheet stack placed on the manual feed tray 10. By blowing the air f1 from the fan motor 72 toward the side end of the sheets S as handling air, the sheets S above the sheet stack are lifted, and the adhesion force between the sheets is reduced. In other words, the first air handling section 74 is an example of an air handling section, and blows air in the width direction W from the first side regulating section 70 onto the stack of sheets S supported by the manual feed tray 10 to handle the sheets S.

[0028] Similarly, the second side regulating section 80 is provided with a second air handling section 84 having a fan motor 82 and a blowing nozzle 83. When the fan motor 82 is driven, air f2 is blown out from the blowing nozzle 83 and is blown onto the side of the sheet stack placed on the manual feed tray 10 opposite the first side regulating section 70. By blowing the air f2 from the fan motor 82 toward the side end of the sheets S as handling air, in combination with the air f1 blown from the opposite side, the sheets S above the sheet stack are effectively lifted, and the adhesion force between the sheets is reduced.

[0029] When the user selects the manual feed device 500 and executes an operation to start image formation, sheet feeding is started from the manual feed device 500. If the sheet S placed on the manual feed tray 10 is, for example, coated paper, the fan motors 72 and 82 are operated. As a result, air f1 and f2 are blown from the blowing nozzles 73 and 83 to the ends of the sheet stack in the width direction W.

[0030] A predetermined time after the blowing of the air f1 and f2 starts, the uppermost sheet S, in which the adhesive force between the sheets has been reduced, is fed by a rotating pickup roller 502 and sent to a separation roller pair 507 consisting of a feed roller 503 and a retard roller 504. The sheet S separated into one sheet by the separation roller pair 507 is conveyed to the registration roller pair 240 by a conveying roller pair 506.

[0031] [Opening and closing structure of door and manual feed device] Hereinafter, the opening and closing structure of the door 260 and the manual feed device 500 of the image forming apparatus 201 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 6. In this embodiment, the image forming apparatus 201 has the door 260 provided on a side surface so as to be openable and closable, and the manual feed device 500 provided so as to be openable and closable with respect to the door 260. The door 260 is an example of an opening and closing door, and is provided so as to be rotatable about a horizontal rotation shaft 260a with respect to the apparatus body 201A, and is provided so as to be able to open and close the apparatus body 201A by rotating between a first closed position (see FIG. 3) and a first open position (see FIG. 4). The door 260 forms a re-conveying path R, which is a sheet conveying path, when it is located at the first closed position. In addition, the door 260 is located at an intermediate position between the first closed position and the first open position, and can open the re-conveying path R.

[0032] The manual feed device 500 is an example of a support unit, and is provided rotatably about a horizontal rotation shaft 10a relative to the door 260, and is provided so as to be able to open and close the door 260 by rotating between a second closed position (see FIG. 3) and a second open position (see FIG. 1). When the manual feed device 500 is located at the second open position, it supports and stacks sheets to be transported to the image forming unit 201B.

[0033] In this embodiment, the manual tray 10 has a protruding portion 500a that protrudes from the door 260 when the door 260 is located at the first closed position and the manual feeding device 500 is located at the second closed position. The protruding portion 500a protrudes from the door 260 beyond an outer surface 260b in a first direction D1 that faces the large-capacity feeding device 600 located at the connection position (see FIG. 3) from the image forming device 201 in the horizontal direction of the door 260. In this embodiment, the first direction D1 is the right side in the figure.

[0034] [Large capacity feeding device] Next, the large-capacity feeding device 600 will be described with reference to Figs. 3 and 4. The large-capacity feeding device 600 is movable in the horizontal direction relative to the image forming device 201, and is movable between a connected position (see Fig. 3) where it is connected to the image forming device 201 and a detached position (see Fig. 4) where it is detached from the image forming device 201. As shown in Fig. 3, the large-capacity feeding device 600 feeds a sheet S to the image forming device 201 when it is located at the connected position. As shown in Fig. 4, when the large-capacity feeding device 600 is located at the detached position, the large-capacity feeding device 600 overlaps at least a part of the door 260 when viewed from above and does not overlap the manual feeding device 500 when the door 260 is located at the first open position.

[0035] 3 is a side view of the image forming apparatus 201 in FIG. 1 with the manual feed tray 10 in the closed state. At this time, let us assume that maintenance work is performed to replace each unit of the image forming section 201B shown by the dashed lines inside the image forming apparatus 201 in FIG. 3. In this case, the first open position of the door 260 is the maintenance position for performing maintenance on the image forming section 201B. Examples of replaceable units of the image forming section 201B include the fixing section 201E, the transfer unit 201C, and the laser scanner 210.

[0036] Door 260 equipped with manual feed tray 10 rotates around pivot 260a. If door 260 is opened while large-capacity feeding device 600 is connected to image forming apparatus 201 as shown in FIG. 3, protrusion 500a of manual feed tray 10 abuts against the top surface of large-capacity feeding device 600. If protrusion 500a of manual feed tray 10 abuts against the top surface of large-capacity feeding device 600, door 260 cannot be opened to the first open position, and replacement work of fixing unit 201E, transfer unit 201C, laser scanner 210, etc. becomes difficult.

[0037] Therefore, in this embodiment, the large-capacity feeding device 600 is moved in the horizontal direction so that the door 260 can be opened sufficiently, and is separated by a distance L as shown in FIG. 4. The protruding portion 500a of the manual feed tray 10 enters into the space formed by the separation of the distance L, and overlaps the large-capacity feeding device 600 in the vertical direction by an overlap amount H. That is, the large-capacity feeding device 600 is provided so as to overlap at least a part of the protruding portion 500a when viewed from the first direction D1 when the door 260 is located at the detached position and at the first open position. As a result, the door 260 opens to the first open position as shown in FIG. 4 to obtain the maintenance space K, and the maintenance work can be performed without removing the manual feed device 500, improving the workability.

[0038] In this embodiment, the first open position of the door 260 is a position where the door 260 is approximately horizontal. This allows a sufficient maintenance space to be obtained. In the first open position, the door 260 may have a gap with respect to the top surface of the large-capacity feeding device 600 or may be in contact with the top surface.

[0039] In this embodiment, the large-capacity feeding device 600 has a guide unit 610 that guides the large-capacity feeding device 600 between a connected position and a detached position. The guide unit 610 is attached to the large-capacity feeding device 600 and has a rail unit 611 with a first direction D1 as a longitudinal direction, and a drawer unit 612 that is guided by the rail unit 611 and can move in the first direction D1 and a second direction D2 opposite to the first direction D1. The tip of the drawer unit 612 is screwed to the image forming device 201. As a result, the detached position is a position moved from the connected position in the first direction D1. In this embodiment, the large-capacity feeding device 600 is configured to be easily moved in the horizontal direction by the guide unit 610. As a result, it is possible for a user to perform maintenance work without calling a serviceman when replacing a unit for maintenance.

[0040] In the present embodiment, the guide unit 610 is provided in the large-capacity feeding device 600, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and the guide unit 610 may be provided in the image forming device 201, or may be provided in both the large-capacity feeding device 600 and the image forming device 201. In addition, in the present embodiment, the detachment position is a position where the coupling position is moved in the first direction D1, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the coupling position may be a position where the coupling position is moved in a direction inclined with respect to the first direction D1, or a position where the coupling position is moved in the width direction W.

[0041] By the way, the large-capacity feeding device 600 is separated from the image forming device 201 by a distance L during maintenance, so that the space between the large-capacity feeding device 600 and the image forming device 201 becomes wider. In this embodiment, a cover 630 is provided to cover the floor surface directly below this space. That is, the surface on which the large-capacity feeding device 600 located at the coupling position is installed is set as the installation surface G. The large-capacity feeding device 600 has a cover 630 that is provided between the large-capacity feeding device 600 and the image forming device 201 and covers at least a part of the installation surface G when the large-capacity feeding device 600 is located at the detachment position. This makes it possible to prevent parts from getting between the large-capacity feeding device 600 and the floor surface when the parts are carelessly dropped, for example. It is also possible to prevent hands or feet from getting unintentionally between the large-capacity feeding device 600 and the floor surface. In this embodiment, the cover 630 is supported by the drawer portion 612 of the guide portion 610.

[0042] In this embodiment, the cover 630 is provided in the large-capacity feeding device 600, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the cover 630 may be provided in the image forming device 201, or may be a separate member from both the large-capacity feeding device 600 and the image forming device 201. The cover 630 is not limited to being supported by the drawer 612, and may be configured to cover the installation surface G by a door that opens by rotating the side surface of the large-capacity feeding device 600 facing the image forming device 201 from above to below.

[0043] Next, the configuration of cover 630 will be described with reference to Figs. 5 and 6. Here, the direction in the horizontal direction where operation unit 730 of image forming apparatus 201 is provided is defined as the front side, and the opposite side is defined as the rear side. A shaft 633 is engaged with cover 630 so as to be rotatable with the width direction W as the longitudinal direction. The front end of shaft 633 is engaged with groove 631a of front guide 631, and the rear end of shaft 633 is engaged with groove 632a of rear guide 632, so that shaft 633 can move along groove 631a and groove 632a.

[0044] The drawer section 612 has a front drawer section 612a, a rear drawer section 612b, and a drawer cover section 612c supported between them. A front end section 630a of the cover 630 is placed on the front drawer section 612a, and a rear end section 630b of the cover 630 is placed on the rear drawer section 612b. The drawer cover section 612c is supported between the front drawer section 612a and the rear drawer section 612b, moves together with the movement of the drawer section 612, and covers at least a portion of the installation surface G when the drawer section 612 is drawn out.

[0045] With this configuration, when the large-capacity feeding device 600 is connected to the image forming device 201 as shown in FIG. 3, the cover 630 is in a substantially vertical state as shown in FIG. 5. When the large-capacity feeding device 600 is separated from the image forming device 201 as shown in FIG. 4, the cover 630 is in a substantially horizontal state as shown in FIG. 6. The cover 630 moves from the state shown in FIG. 5 to the state shown in FIG. 6 by moving the large-capacity feeding device 600. This makes it possible to prevent, for example, a part from being caught between the large-capacity feeding device 600 and the floor when the part is accidentally dropped. It is also possible to prevent a hand or foot from being caught unintentionally between the large-capacity feeding device 600 and the floor.

[0046] As described above, according to the image forming system 1 of this embodiment, the large-capacity feeding device 600 is provided so as to overlap at least a part of the protruding portion 500a as viewed from the first direction D1 when the large-capacity feeding device 600 is located at the detached position and the door 260 is located at the first open position. As a result, the door 260 opens to the first open position as shown in FIG. 4 to obtain the maintenance space K, and the maintenance work can be performed without removing the manual feeding device 500, thereby improving the workability during the maintenance of the image forming device 201.

[0047] Furthermore, according to the image forming system 1 of the present embodiment, the detachment position is a position obtained by moving the connection position in the first direction D1, so that the configuration of the guide unit 610 can be simplified compared to the case where the guide unit 610 moves in another direction.

[0048] Furthermore, according to the image forming system 1 of this embodiment, since the guide unit 610 is provided, the large-capacity feeding device 600 can be easily moved, and in particular, the positioning of the large-capacity feeding device 600 when connecting it to the image forming device 201 can be easily performed. This can improve the overall workability during maintenance.

[0049] Furthermore, according to the image forming system 1 of this embodiment, when the large-capacity feeding device 600 is located at the detached position, the cover 630 is provided between the large-capacity feeding device 600 and the image forming device 201, and covers at least a part of the installation surface G. This makes it possible to prevent a part from getting between the large-capacity feeding device 600 and the floor surface when the part is accidentally dropped, and also makes it possible to prevent a hand or foot from getting between the large-capacity feeding device 600 and the floor surface unintentionally.

[0050] In the above embodiment, the manual feed device 500 has the first air handling section 74 and the second air handling section 84, but the present invention is not limited to this and may not have these sections. In this case, for example, when a large number of sheets are loaded, the thickness of the manual feed device 500 may increase and the protrusion 500a may be formed. [Explanation of symbols]

[0051] 1...image forming system, 70...first side regulating section (regulating section), 74...first air handling section (air handling section), 201...image forming apparatus, 201A...apparatus main body (housing), 201B...image forming section, 260...door (opening / closing door), 260a...rotating shaft, 260b...outer surface, 500...manual feeder (support unit), 500a...rotating shaft, 600...large capacity feeder (feeder), 610...guide section, 611...rail section, 612...drawer section, 630...cover, R...re-conveying path (sheet conveying path), S...sheet, W...width direction

Claims

1. An image forming apparatus comprising: an image forming unit for forming an image on a sheet; a housing for housing the image forming unit; an opening / closing door provided to be openable and closable between a first closed position closed to the housing and a first open position open to the housing; and a support unit openable and closable between a second closed position closed to the opening / closing door and a second open position open to support the sheet. The device comprises a feeding device that is movable horizontally relative to the image forming apparatus, moves between a connected position where it is connected to the image forming apparatus and a detached position where it is detached from the image forming apparatus, and feeds a sheet to the image forming apparatus when it is located at the connected position, When the feeding device is in the detached position and the opening / closing door is in the first open position, when viewed in the horizontal direction, a part of the support portion overlaps with the feeding device. An image forming system characterized by the following features.

2. The opening and closing door is provided so as to be rotatable about a first axis that is perpendicular to the horizontal and vertical directions, The support portion is provided so as to be rotatable about a second axis that is different from the first axis and parallel to the first axis. The image forming system according to claim 1.

3. When the support portion is in the second closed position, when viewed in the horizontal direction, a part of the support portion overlaps the feeding device. The image forming system according to claim 1.

4. When the opening / closing door is in the first closed position and the support portion is in the second closed position, a part of the support portion protrudes horizontally from the opening / closing door, The image forming system according to claim 1.

5. When the opening / closing door is in the first open position, a part of the opening / closing door overlaps the feeding device when viewed in a vertical downward direction, and the support portion does not overlap the feeding device. The image forming system according to claim 1.

6. The image forming apparatus and the feeding apparatus are attached to a guide that guides the feeding apparatus so that it can move between the connection position and the detachment position, The image forming system according to claim 1.

7. When the surface on which the feeding device located at the aforementioned connection position is installed is defined as the installation surface, When the feeding device is in the detached position, it is provided between the feeding device and the image forming apparatus and includes a cover that covers at least a portion of the mounting surface, The cover is supported by the guide portion. The image forming system according to claim 6.

8. The first open position is a maintenance position for performing maintenance on the image forming unit, where the opening and closing door is opened along the horizontal direction. The image forming system according to claim 1.

9. The aforementioned support portion is The support portion is provided to be movable in the width direction perpendicular to the sheet feeding direction, and a restricting portion is provided to restrict the position of the sheet supported by the support portion in the width direction, The device has an air-dispersing section that blows air in the width direction from the restricting section onto a bundle of sheets supported by the support section to disperse the sheets, The image forming system according to claim 1.

Images